Thursday, January 30, 2020
Tuesday, January 28, 2020
Operation Inherent Resolve:US Combat Operations in Syria Resume
Following a sequestration of troops for force protection during the Iran crisis,US service members are once again conducting combat operations against Islamic State remnants in Syria alongside their longtime Syrian Kurd allies in the Syrian Democratic Forces.According to US CENTCOM commander GEN Kenneth "Frank" McKenzie,Jr.,US Marine Corps,who spoke to journalists from the Associated Press and The Washington Post while touring five US bases in the Eastern Security Zone,the two close members of Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve are now conducting up to 3-4 operations a week.The US outposts GEN McKenzie visited house a total of around 750 US troops and are scattered across a swath of ESZ territory running from Deir-el-Zour in the Northeast to the Euphrates River Valley and the Iraqi border east of al-Hassakeh.The names and exact locations of many of the bases are classified.
GEN McKenzie told the journalists:
I frankly don't know how long we're going to be here.And I have no instructions other than to continue to work with our partners here.Now we're firmly focused on the lasting defeat of ISIS (another name for Islamic State).*
Accompanying GEN McKenzie was MG Eric Hill,US Air Force,commander of Special Operations Forces in Iraq and Syria.He said his troops are training and conducting operations with the Syrian Democratic Forces to shut down IS,who are hiding in valleys,caves and deserts,where they attempt to regroup following their defeat at the hands of CJTF-OIR in their former capital of Raqqa,Syria.*
Another 5,000 US troops are across the border in Iraq on a train,advise and assist mission with the Iraqi Security Forces,who are engaged in their own battle with IS remnants in Iraq.Many of the IS militants are located in Anbar Province in Western Iraq.
NATO also has a training mission underway in Iraq.*
GEN McKenzie told the journalists:
I frankly don't know how long we're going to be here.And I have no instructions other than to continue to work with our partners here.Now we're firmly focused on the lasting defeat of ISIS (another name for Islamic State).*
Accompanying GEN McKenzie was MG Eric Hill,US Air Force,commander of Special Operations Forces in Iraq and Syria.He said his troops are training and conducting operations with the Syrian Democratic Forces to shut down IS,who are hiding in valleys,caves and deserts,where they attempt to regroup following their defeat at the hands of CJTF-OIR in their former capital of Raqqa,Syria.*
Another 5,000 US troops are across the border in Iraq on a train,advise and assist mission with the Iraqi Security Forces,who are engaged in their own battle with IS remnants in Iraq.Many of the IS militants are located in Anbar Province in Western Iraq.
NATO also has a training mission underway in Iraq.*
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
US Army Armored Brigade Drills in the Baltics
From 13-15 January 2015,Soldiers of the US Army's 1st Battalion,9th Cavalry Regiment,2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team,1st Cavalry Division out of Fort Hood,Texas conducted exercises including live fire at the Pabrade Training Area,Lithuania.In the course of the drills,teams moved across the range responding to contact with the enemy,according to the Army's 241st Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.Platoon-size elements cleared the lane by approaching the contact point.The 1-9 CAV "Headhunters" utilised their M1A2 Abrams tanks;M2A3 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles (BFVs);and M113 Armored Personnel Carriers.The unit is currently serving in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve,which aims to boslter NATO Allies' confidence in US assistance,while deterring aggression by our adversaries.It was instituted in light of Russia's seizure of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014,as well as its participation in and backing of an insurgency in Eastern Ukraine,which continues to this day.*
The live fire exercises in Lithuania were intended to improve 1-9 CAV's response to enemy fire.Additionally,1-9 CAV conducted a trench-clearing drill on 15 January at Pabrade.Dismounting from an M2A3 BFV,Soldiers entered the trench to clear any enemies or obstacles from it.*
The live fire exercises in Lithuania were intended to improve 1-9 CAV's response to enemy fire.Additionally,1-9 CAV conducted a trench-clearing drill on 15 January at Pabrade.Dismounting from an M2A3 BFV,Soldiers entered the trench to clear any enemies or obstacles from it.*
Friday, January 17, 2020
Wednesday, January 15, 2020
NORAD Postpones Exercise
NORAD tweeted that Exercise Falco-Virgo was postponed until 16 January 2020 because of bad weather.All other details will be the same.That means the drills,which are a part of Operation Noble Eagle,the beefed-up air defence since 9-11,will take place tonight from 12:30 am-2:30 am.
Tuesday, January 14, 2020
Falco-Virgo:NORAD Exercise Includes C-12 Huron
NORAD has announced that an air defence exercise is to occur between 12:30 am and 2:30 am Wednesday morning in the skies of the Washington,D.C. area.Aircraft utilised will include F-16 Fighting Falcons;a C-12 Huron;an MH-65D Dolphin helicopter,which is used by the US Coast Guard to provide overwatch of the D.C. area;and a Civil Air Patrol Cessna 182T.
Portions of the drill could be visible from the ground,with low level flights at around 2500 feet.If the weather is bad,the exercise will take place the following day.*
The C-12 Huron,manufactured by Raytheon Aircraft Corporation in the US,is based on the Beechcraft Super King Air and the Beechcraft 1900.Its Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 turboprop engines give it a top speed of 333 mph and a range of 2074 miles.Utilised by all four of the Department of Defense armed forces,the Huron's principal missions are focused on the tactical movement of cargo and passengers between military bases;embassy support;medevac;VIP transport;and light cargo transport.Equipped with Rockwell Collins avionics,it is regarded as the primary operations support aircraft,with a cargo capacity of 5,000 pounds.The C-12 has a maximum crew of two (pilot and co-pilot) and can carry up to 13 passengers.*
Raytheon Corp (RTN)
Portions of the drill could be visible from the ground,with low level flights at around 2500 feet.If the weather is bad,the exercise will take place the following day.*
The C-12 Huron,manufactured by Raytheon Aircraft Corporation in the US,is based on the Beechcraft Super King Air and the Beechcraft 1900.Its Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 turboprop engines give it a top speed of 333 mph and a range of 2074 miles.Utilised by all four of the Department of Defense armed forces,the Huron's principal missions are focused on the tactical movement of cargo and passengers between military bases;embassy support;medevac;VIP transport;and light cargo transport.Equipped with Rockwell Collins avionics,it is regarded as the primary operations support aircraft,with a cargo capacity of 5,000 pounds.The C-12 has a maximum crew of two (pilot and co-pilot) and can carry up to 13 passengers.*
Raytheon Corp (RTN)
Saturday, January 11, 2020
Wednesday, January 8, 2020
Kenya:US Soldier Killed in Battle with al-Qaida Affiliate Identified
On 5 January 2019,a US Soldier and two Department of Defense contractors were killed in a firefight with the al-Qaida affiliate al-Shabaab at Manda Bay Airfield on the Kenya coastline.The Islamist extremist militants penetrated the airfield's perimeter and engaged US and Kenyan Defence Force troops with small arms fire and indirect fire (mortars).The battle began in the early hours of the morning and lasted about nine hours,according to local residents.Two other Department of Defense members were wounded and airlifted out for treatment.
Killed was US Army SPC Henry "Mitch" Mayfield,23,of Evergreen Park,Illinois.He was a member of the 1st Battalion,58th Aviation Regiment,164th Theater Airfield Operations Group out of Fort Rucker,Alabama.SPC Mayfield was serving in support of Operation Octave Shield,which targets Islamist extremists based in neighbouring Somalia.The attack is being investigated.*
Manda Bay Airfield is adjacent to Camp Simba,a US Special Operations Forces base,and is used to train Kenyan military personnel and support US operations against the terrorists.In the course of the al-Shabaab assault,five contractor aircraft were destroyed and another one was damaged.*
COL William Garber,commander of the 164th TAOG,said:
Mayfield was a dynamic Soldier who inspires those he served with to excel both on and off duty.*
US Africa Command commander GEN Stephen Townsend,US Army,promised that:
Alongside our African and international partners,we will pursue those responsible for this attack and al-Shabaab,who seek to harm Americans and US interests.*
AFRICOM deployed its East Africa Response Force from Djibouti,Africa to secure the airfield.According to MG William Gayler,AFRICOM director of operations:
The EARF provides a combat-ready,rapid deployment force.The EARF's ability to respond to events spanning a vast area of responsibility provides a proven and on-call reinforcement capability in times of need.
Al-Shabaab is a brutal terrorist organisation.It is an al-Qaida affiliate seeking to establish a self-governed Islamic territory in East Africa,to remove Western influence and ideals from the region,and to further its jihadist agenda.US presence in Africa is critically important to counter-terrorism efforts.*
Core Al-Qaida,led by Ayman al Zawahari,is based in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region and communicates with its affiliates by encrypted communications.Besides al-Shabaab,which is based in Somalia,the affiliates include al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (Algeria) and al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (Yemen and Saudi Arabia).*
The Kenya attack is not related to the Iran crisis,but part of a long struggle to safeguard the nations of North and East Africa from Islamist extremism.*
Killed was US Army SPC Henry "Mitch" Mayfield,23,of Evergreen Park,Illinois.He was a member of the 1st Battalion,58th Aviation Regiment,164th Theater Airfield Operations Group out of Fort Rucker,Alabama.SPC Mayfield was serving in support of Operation Octave Shield,which targets Islamist extremists based in neighbouring Somalia.The attack is being investigated.*
Manda Bay Airfield is adjacent to Camp Simba,a US Special Operations Forces base,and is used to train Kenyan military personnel and support US operations against the terrorists.In the course of the al-Shabaab assault,five contractor aircraft were destroyed and another one was damaged.*
COL William Garber,commander of the 164th TAOG,said:
Mayfield was a dynamic Soldier who inspires those he served with to excel both on and off duty.*
US Africa Command commander GEN Stephen Townsend,US Army,promised that:
Alongside our African and international partners,we will pursue those responsible for this attack and al-Shabaab,who seek to harm Americans and US interests.*
AFRICOM deployed its East Africa Response Force from Djibouti,Africa to secure the airfield.According to MG William Gayler,AFRICOM director of operations:
The EARF provides a combat-ready,rapid deployment force.The EARF's ability to respond to events spanning a vast area of responsibility provides a proven and on-call reinforcement capability in times of need.
Al-Shabaab is a brutal terrorist organisation.It is an al-Qaida affiliate seeking to establish a self-governed Islamic territory in East Africa,to remove Western influence and ideals from the region,and to further its jihadist agenda.US presence in Africa is critically important to counter-terrorism efforts.*
Core Al-Qaida,led by Ayman al Zawahari,is based in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region and communicates with its affiliates by encrypted communications.Besides al-Shabaab,which is based in Somalia,the affiliates include al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (Algeria) and al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (Yemen and Saudi Arabia).*
The Kenya attack is not related to the Iran crisis,but part of a long struggle to safeguard the nations of North and East Africa from Islamist extremism.*
Monday, January 6, 2020
Saturday, January 4, 2020
Friday, January 3, 2020
Pentagon Confirms US Killed Gen. Soleimani, Head of Iran's Elite Quds Force | Military.com
Pentagon Confirms US Killed Gen. Soleimani, Head of Iran's Elite Quds Force | Military.com: Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani had been planning attacks on U.S. troops and diplomats, officials said.
Thursday, January 2, 2020
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